The Great War: 1914-1918

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An excellent one volume history of the First World War. Peter Hart takes a world view of the war, considering all arenas of war on land and at sea. He recalls a range of testimony from “Tommies” to the Generals which gives us a fully rounded picture of the War and an indication of how the war appeared to the millions involved.

Synopsis

The Great War: 1914-1918 by Peter Hart

The Great War was the first truly global conflict, and it changed the course of world history In this magnum opus, critically-acclaimed historian Peter Hart examines the conflict in every arena around the world, in a history that combines cutting edge scholarship with vivid and unfamiliar eyewitness accounts, from kings and generals, and ordinary soldiers. He focuses in particular on explaining how technology and tactics developed during the conflict - and determines which battles were crucial to its outcome. Combatants from every corner of Earth joined the fray, but their voices are rarely heard together. This is a major history of the conflict whose centenary is fast approaching. Published in paperback for the anniversary of the conflict, this is a pioneering and comprehensive account of the First World War, comparable to Anthony Beevor or Max Hastings.

Reviews

'Immensely readable... Hart excels not only at making it intelligible but also at turning it into a gripping narrative, which includes extensive and moving quotations from soldiers and sailors who bore the consequences of their commanders' decisions and faced the realities of combat... Hart's book will contribute to a sea change in our understanding of the war during the years of the centenary - Irish Times

About the Author

Peter Hart was born in 1955. He went to Liverpool University before joining the Sound Archive at the Imperial War Museum in 1981. He is now Oral Historian at the Archive.